How To Catch Lint From An Outdoor Dryer Vent (Do This!)
Let’s talk about lint. Lint is that pillowey, fuzzy stuff that is usually found in dryers and in lint traps. It’s great for hipsters who like to make things out of lint, but it’s not good for clothing or your home. If you have a dryer, you have to make sure to keep it free of lint. Otherwise, you might have a fire hazard on your hands. Getting lint from your outdoor dryer vent can be tricky, though. So, how can you do it?
Most outdoor dryer vents are designed to let the lint loose once it reaches the end of the vent. If you want to catch it, you will need to use a lint-trapping cover that is placed over your dryer vent. Though having a lint trapper can help keep your yard clean, it’s still important to vacuum your dryer vent once a month.
You can even clean a dryer vent with a leaf blower. Keeping your place clean from laundry messes may sound easy, but it can get tricky from time to time. This article is here to help you avoid linty messes in your yard.
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Before We Begin: Do All Dryers Have An Outdoor Dryer Vent?
While outdoor dryer vents are the norm, not all homes are going to have them. Some home dryers are ventless, which means that you will have an interior compartment that needs to be emptied and cleaned on a monthly basis. Should this be the case, you might want to look into an article on that. If you can’t find the dryer vent on the side of your home, you most likely have a ventless system.
Why Should You Try To Catch Lint From Your Outdoor Dryer Vent?
Honestly, there are a lot of minor reasons. For the most part, your number one focus should be keeping the vent clean since this can actually pose a fire hazard risk. However, catching lint from your vent as it floats out onto your yard does have its perks. First off, it’s a good way to ensure that your yard won’t be filled with fuzz that could potentially harm the animals in your area.
Second, there’s also the fact that lint can look pretty gross when it’s strewn about your yard. While most yards won’t look awful with lint all over the place, the truth is that it can get noticeable. This is especially true if you’re doing laundry for a large family. If it gets to be problematic, your HOA may also try to fine you for it.
Learn how to clean a dryer vent on the roof.
How To Catch Lint From Your Outdoor Dryer Vent
Your dryer vent is going to release lint from time to time. This lint is usually not that big a deal, but some HOAs will want you to keep lint at a minimum when it comes to your yard. It’s also important to keep your vent lint-free. To make sure that you avoid a fire hazard and also keep your yard clean, we’re going to talk about how you can trap your lint and keep everything clean as a whistle.
How To Put A Lint Trap On Your Vent
Getting a lint trap is the easiest way to make sure that you can keep your lawn area lint-free and keep your HOA happy. Thankfully, this is an easy process:
- First, take a look at the type of vent that your home has. There are two major types: round and rectangular. To ensure that you get the right type of vent lint trap, measure the dimensions of the vent.
- Go to your local hardware store (or Amazon) and look up outdoor dryer vent lint traps. There will look like large mesh bowls that would fit right over your vent. Buy one that fits your vent size. If you want to keep the trap on the inside of the vent (rare, but not unheard-of), then they will look more like plates.
- Attach the lint trap to the outside of your dryer vent. Most of the time, these can be screwed on using the same attachment screws as your vent. Some dryer vent lint catchers are also made in the form of a small bag that can get filled up and disposed of. Regardless of the lint catcher you choose, you should be able to find the instructions on the package.
How To Keep Your Lint Vent Clean
Outdoor lint vents might seem pretty easy to handle, and that’s because they kind of are. You still will need to keep them clean, though. This is how you can clean your lint vent by yourself:
- Once a month, remove the lint catcher from the dryer lint vent. You can manually clean the lint off the catcher, or you can use a handheld vacuum.
- Then, use a screwdriver to remove the actual dryer lint vent hood. This should be fairly easy to do. Once you have removed the vent hood, use your hand to remove the lint from the hood.
- From there, use a hand vacuum to remove additional lint in and around the area. Most of the time, this is more than enough to handle the lint trapped in the vent.
- Replace the vent hood and screw it back in. If you feel like it, just wipe down the hood.
- Finally, screw the lint vent catcher back in. If your vent catcher is a “sock” type, then you can just slide it back on the hood. Just like that, you’re done cleaning.
- Repeat steps 1 through 5 once a month. Even the tidiest of homes will need a cleaning routine. That includes your lint hood.
Find out how to hook up a dryer vent in a tight space.
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Related Questions
How does lint get past the lint trap?
Honestly, it can happen in a wide range of ways. In many cases, this happens when the lint trap is overloaded with lint due to a lack of cleaning. When this occurs, smaller particles of lint will get pushed through the trap and end up in the vent. In other situations, lint is too small to get caught by the trap itself. The lint ends up getting blown through the vent, ending up outside.
Why is my house so dusty?
Dust is a mix of lint, dust mites, skin cells, and shedding fibers from textiles that are used in and around your home. If you want to prevent dust from flooding your home, your best bet is to wash textiles regularly, vacuum each room on a regular basis, and also make an effort to keep your furniture clean.
How often should you clean the lint trap in your dryer?
Most people assume that you only have to clean the lint trap once a week, but this isn’t actually true. Lint is a major fire hazard, which is why dryers are one of the leading causes of house fires in America. To keep your home safe from lint-related fires, the best thing that you can do is to clean out your lint trap after every laundry session.When cleaning out your lint trap, remember to throw away the lint in a garbage can that’s placed far away from the dryer and other heat-producing areas. Since lint is highly flammable, it’s possible for it to combust by just being exposed to high temperatures. So, it’s better to be safe than sorry.
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Ossiana Tepfenhart is an expert writer, focusing on interior design and general home tips. Writing is her life, and it's what she does best. Her interests include art and real estate investments.
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